Should this have blown up the way it did?

[Veneficus]

Yup, he's a whacker. So was I when I was that age (as were a lot of people), because I was 16 when I joined my volunteer FD in a small town. There wasn't much to do, other than feed the cows and go on our department's 200 or so calls a year. People grow up.

His agency got all offended that he didn't get his "interview" approved through their heirarchy. Big effing deal. That sounds to me like they're as big a group of whackers as he is, thinking that they are SO important. I got so sick and tired of the small town "look at me, I'm so important" volunteer mentality. These tools will take any opportunity to show somone that THEY'RE the boss, that THEY have power over their little kingdom. I no longer volunteer; I work FT in a busy urban system, and when I'm home, I'm off the job and enjoying my family.

If you listen to a rural emergency scanner and couple it with a newspaper report, you can probably get more information than this article. They have a kid that is driving nearly 400 miles in a weekend to come home and volunteer his time, and their response is to suspend him, with the threat they may bounce him. How about using it as a teaching experience instead? Take the kid and explain how this wasn't the wisest thing to do, and guide him. Educate him why talking to the press is not a good idea. Nope. Gotta flex their muscles. If I could talk to him, I'd tell him to join a NY agency closer to school. Screw them. Give his time to someone who will appreciate him.

The voice of reason.

Strong post.

 

[Tigger]

As far as privacy issues, to me the dudes in the clear. He didn't break HIPAA code to me. Probably won't stop them from investigating though.

Those HIPAA folks are a touchy bunch...

I doubt that the HHS's Civil Rights Office will even bother looking at this, much less the DOJ. HIPAA is not the 8 million tentacled monster that many make it out to be.